GREECE 



2608 



GREECE 



latter, gaining not only Crete but many other 

 islands in the Aegean which had been a part 

 of historic Greece, and much of Macedonia 

 besides. The cost was great, both in money 

 and in men, and the exhaustion which resulted 

 had much to do with the attitude of Greece 

 during the War of the Nations. 



On March 18, 1913, while on a tour of in- 

 spection, King George was assassinated at 

 Saloniki, and his son, Constantine I, came to 

 the throne. The country was confronted with 

 a serious problem on the outbreak of the War 

 of the Nations in 1914, but declared at once 

 its absolute neutrality. 



The position of Greece in connection with 

 the war was exceedingly embarrassing. The 

 queen is a sister of the German emperor, and 

 the royal family therefore leaned strongly 

 towards the cause of the central empires, Ger- 

 many and Austria. The majority of the peo- 

 ple were in sympathy with the entente allies; 

 this was but natural, because France and Eng- 

 land had by treaty guaranteed protection to 

 Greece against foreign invasion. 



When Serbia was overwhelmed by the Teu- 

 tonic forces in 1916 that unhappy little coun- 

 try looked to Greece for support, for afler the 

 Balkan wars the latter had pledged its mili- 

 tary strength to support the farmer against 

 alien enemies. However, Greece ignored the 

 plight of Serbia, and there were strong indica- 

 tions that King Constantine would resist no 

 pressure that Germans might bring to bear 

 upon him. Internal affairs grew serious, for a 

 strong element of the people, headed by for- 

 mer Premier Venizelos, resisted what was 

 termed a disregard of the will of the people, 

 and Venizelos and his followers revolted. They 

 retired to a neighboring island and organized 

 a provincial government, ready to strike 

 against the king should it become advisable. 



The military forces of the entente, by right 

 assumed because of treaty obligations, took 

 extreme measures to insure the continued neu- 

 trality of Greece. Men were landed from war- 

 ships, and allied vessels blockaded the 'coasts. 

 Constantine was commanded to demobilize his 

 army and to deliver artillery to the allies as a 

 guarantee that neutrality would be preserved. 

 He failed to keep promises made, and on June 

 12, 1917, the allies deposed him, for at least the 

 duration of the war. His second son, Alexander, 

 was made king; the crown prince, having the 

 same German sympathies his father had shown, 

 was denied the crown. Alexander was known to 

 be pro-ally. See WAR OF THE NATIONS. W.L.W. 



Consult Grote's History of Greece; Tennent's 

 History of Modern Greece (146 B.C.-A.D. 1820) ; 

 Martin's Greece of the Twentieth Century. 



Related Subject*. The following articles in 

 these volumes will throw much light on the his- 

 tory and life of Greece. The articles on ARCHI- 

 TECTURE and SCULPTURE should also be consulted. 

 For the literary references relating to the coun- 

 try, see DRAMA, POETRY, etc. 



Agrigentum 



Athens 



Corinth 



Delphi 



Marathon 



Arcadia 



Attica 



Boeotia 



Epirus 



Laconia 



CITIES AND TOWNS 



Missolonghi 



Mycenae 



Piraeus 



Sparta 



Thebes 



DIVISIONS 



Macedonia 



Messenia 



Peloponnesus 



Thessaly 



Thrace 



HISTORY 



Acheron 

 Aganippe 

 Helicon 

 Mars Hill 

 Olympia 



PHYSICAL FEATURES 



Olympus 

 Parnassus 

 Tempe, Vale of 

 Thermopylae 



Acropolis 

 Alexandrian Age 

 Areopagus 

 Festivals 

 Greek Literature 

 Isthmian Games 



UNCLASSIFIED 



Mysteries 

 Mythology 

 Nemean Games 

 Olympian Games 

 Pythian Games 

 Stadium 



